by Aracely M. Ortega
The Economic Development Agency of the Mission (MEDA), based in the Mission District neighborhood in San Francisco, was awarded the “Affiliate of the Year” award granted by the national organization UnidosUS, formerly called National Council of La Raza ( NCLR) for its work to give Latinos tools and information to achieve the American dream and obtain financial stability.
The award was presented to MEDA on Aug. 5 during the 2019 Annual Conference held in San Diego for its commitment to achieve a significant change for the Latino community. The “Affiliate of the Year” award is the greatest honor given to a UnitedUS affiliate.
“UnidosUS has been very fortunate to have MEDA as part of our network of talented affiliates who face critical issues and improve lives,” UnitedUS President Janet Murguía said.
“We are honoring MEDA for its strong passion to help working Latino families gain greater financial security and achieve the American dream,” he said.
Because many families face economic challenges and displacements, MEDA’s approach is through building resistance and prosperity in one of the most expensive cities in the nation.
MEDA works to strengthen the financial well-being of Latino families of moderate and low income by promoting economic equity and social justice through the creation of assets and economic development in the San Francisco Bay area.
It offers almost all its services at no cost, and its strategies focus on accessible housing, small businesses, access to capital and education. It serves 7,300 people every year.
“MEDA is honored to be selected as a United States affiliate of the year 2019,” said Luis Granados, executive director of MEDA.
He said his diligent work team works daily to strengthen immigrant and low-income families. In addition they are now sharing their model nationwide.
“This work is inspired by the power of the collective and individual experience of our Latino community,” he said.
He added that MEDA is very proud to be part of the 269 organizations that make up the UnidosUS affiliate network by working collaboratively towards a common goal of building equity through the power, name and wealth of Latinos.
MEDA works with UnidosUS as a digital innovation program fellow to scale the impact of MEDA’s Viva! a financial capacity toolkit for an online platform.
This will offer an interactive tool for instructors, clients and communities that allows them to work together on family development and wealth building plans.
MEDA works with five UnitedUS affiliates to build financial capacity programs using the MEDA’s Viva! for community development.
Meda was born in 1973 to serve small businesses. According to Luis Granados, they are also currently working on the development of accessible housing, access to capital and political commitment for immigrant families or children of immigrants. The goal for 2020 is to prevent and reverse the displacement of families. In recent years, 8,000 Latinos have been forced to leave their homes in the Mission neighborhood, 25 percent of the community.
The Affiliate of the Year award was made possible by the generous collaboration of the Ford Motor Company Fund, a longtime ally of UnitedUS in its commitment to advance the interests of the Latino community.
The Ford Motor Company Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Ford Automotive Company.
“The Ford Fund congratulates MEDA’s impressive work to empower Latino families in their excellent economic development programs,” said Joel Avila, community development manager in the United States and Latin America of the Ford Automotive Company Fund.
“It is very stimulating to continue our collaboration of more than 25 years with UnidosUS to strengthen communities throughout the country,” he said.
In addition to rewarding MEDA with $25,000 in cash, UnidosUS also recognized regional beneficiaries of its affiliate network. Each of the winners was given $5,000 in cash at the lunch of the National Conference for Affiliates.
Other organizations that were awarded are: Esperanza, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio as the Midwest affiliate; Affiliate of the Far West Latino Network of Portland, Oregon; Northeast affiliate: Puerto Rican Association in March, Inc. (APM) of Philadelphia; Southeast affiliate: East Coast Migrant Head Start Project of Raleigh of Northern California; The Texas Affiliate, Your Family Clinic.
The UnitedUS affiliate network consists of almost 300 community organizations that provide a variety of key services and resources to millions of Latinos throughout the country.
The Annual Conference of UnidosUS is a central meeting place for affiliates, and that includes thousands of people representing community organizations, non-profit organizations, government, corporations and academic institutions.
UnidosUS, formerly NCLR, is the largest Hispanic defense and civil rights organization in the nation. With the joint work of researchers, leaders, programs and its network of affiliates throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, for more than 50 years, UnitedUS has challenged the social, economic and social barriers that affect Latinos at national and local levels.
